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UN says refugees, displaced at two-decade high

War and other crises drove one person from their home every 4.1 seconds in 2012, the UN's refugee agency said Wednesday, pushing the number of people forcibly displaced to a two-decade high of 45.2 million. All told, the UNCHR's annual figures showed 1.1 million people fled across international borders in 2012, while 6.5 million were displaced within their homelands. "This means one in each 4.1 seconds. So each time you blink, another person is forced to flee," Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told reporters.

UN reports highest level of refugees since 1994 as Canada tightens policy

OTTAWA - Refugee numbers around the world are at their highest level since 1994, the United Nations refugee agency reported Tuesday in a sobering look at global displacement. More than 45.2 million people either fled their own countries or were internally displaced in 2012, compared to 42.5 million the year before, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in its annual global trends report. War remained the dominant reason for displacement — 55 per cent of all refugees came from five war-affected countries: Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria and Sudan.

Fighting displaces 70-80% of Palestinians in Syria

The conflict in Syria has displaced more than two-thirds of Palestinian refugees living in the country, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees said on Wednesday. "We have registered approximately 530,000 Palestinian refugees. We believe that almost all of them, certainly maybe 70-80 percent, are displaced from their normal homes," UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi told AFP on a visit to Syria. Between 12 and 15 percent of the Palestinian refugee population has fled the country altogether, Grandi added.

Japan's Abe urges Syria's Assad to quit, offers fresh refugee aid

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday to step down over the violent crackdown on opposition forces, and offered $10 million in fresh emergency aid for Syrian refugees. "In Syria, the violence must be stopped immediately. The Assad regime should step down and a government of the Syrian people should be established," Abe told reporters ahead of a session of the summit of Group of Eight major nations in Northern Ireland.

Obama pledges more humanitarian aid for Syrians, refugees

By Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama announced more than $300 million in new humanitarian aid on Monday to address the Syrian crisis and to help neighboring countries cope with the 1.6 million refugees who have fled the civil war. Obama announced the aid for food, medical equipment, water and shelter during a dinner with leaders of the G8 nations, which spent time addressing how best to end the two-year civil war.

Early, forced marriages haunt Jordan's Syrian refugees

With no end in sight to Syria's conflict, some refugees in Jordan are offering their daughters for early marriage in the hope of securing them protection as they face growing economic pressure. Syrian refugee Abu Mohammad says he reluctantly opted to marry off his teenage daughter to a rich 40-year-old Saudi man, hoping to give her a better life and ease his family's financial hardships.

U.N. talking to Germany about resettling 5,000 Syrian refugees

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency is talking to Germany about temporarily resettling up to 5,000 Syrian refugees, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said on Tuesday. Edwards said UNHCR was also working with other European governments to find ways to help the 1.6 million Syrians who have fled the country, a number the United Nations expects to reach 3.45 million by the end of 2013. (This story corrects figure to 5,000 instead of 10,000 after UNHCR official clarification)

U.N. talks to Germany about resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency is talking to Germany about resettling up to 10,000 Syrian refugees, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said on Tuesday. UNHCR was also working with other European governments to find ways to resettle some of the 1.6 million Syrians who have fled the country, a number the United Nations expects to reach 3.45 million by the end of 2013, Edwards said.

Swiss vote for tougher asylum law

The Swiss voted overwhelmingly Sunday in favour of a government move to tighten the country's asylum law amid a spike in refugees, in what opponents of the changes decried as a "disaster". A full 78.4 percent of voters embraced changes made to the asylum law last September as applications soared to their hightest level in over a decade. Opponents of the asylum law revision, which includes the removal of military desertion from a list of valid grounds for seeking asylum in Switzerland, voiced deep disappointment at their defeat.

Swiss vote on tougher asylum law

The Swiss voted Sunday on whether to throw out a government move to tighten Switzerland's asylum law amid an influx of refugees to the wealthy Alpine nation. Voting stations opened at different times in different regions of Switzerland, where four Sundays have been set aside this year for popular votes on national, regional and local issues as part of the country's famous direct democratic system.
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